Friday Eurovision – Lithuania’s Mr Hustle

LONDON (The Friday Eurovision) - There are so many great Lithuanian basketball players to admire.

Arvydas Sabonis?

Now that’s a legend from the Baltics if ever there was one!

He’s the most famous of all, a man that many called the best in the game when he was at the height of his career and still playing in Europe.

Sabonis went into the FIBA Hall of Fame this year.

Jonas Maciulis, a player in Lithuania’s national team now, learned to play at the Sabonis basketball school in Kaunas.

But what has made Lithuanian basketball successful over the years hasn’t been one man.

It’s been a belief in the team ethos, that it’s the most important element in success, and life.

There is also the fact that only players willing to fight for 40 minutes in every game – the way Maciulis and Lithuania did this summer when they went on a stunning run to the bronze medal at the FIBA World Championship as a wild-card participant – can play for the national team.

It’s fitting, then, that Maciulis gave his answer on Thursday night, after tearing apart Power Electronics Valencia with 26 points, as to who his favorite player was when he was growing up.

It was someone like himself, someone unheralded that a lot of fans around the world may not know but one that is vitally important for teams to win.

"Mindaugas Timinskas of Zalgiris,” he said to FIBA.com, referring to the former national team player.

"He was my idol.

"I want to fight, to be like him."

The play of Maciulis for Armani Jeans Milano on Thursday night would have made Timinskas smile.

The 25-year-old forward shot the ball so well in the first half of the Euroleague game that by half-time, he had 18 points.

He finished with a game-high 26.

Maciulis was so impressive in scoring from everywhere on the court and collecting floor burns while diving for loose balls that he received applause from the Valencia fans whenever he left the game.

It was reminiscent of the way he and his national team played in Turkey.

Next summer

Maciulis is clearly on a high from this summer with the national team.

Lithuania had been down in the dumps after EuroBasket 2009 when they won just one game.

That tournament had been torture for the players.

Everything changed in Turkey and coach Kestutis Kemzura was the biggest reason why.

He took over from Ramunas Butautas and successfully changed the mood in the squad.

"He has authority,” Maciulis said.

“You just look at him, how calm he is and how he explains everything to you, and how he's a great man - you just believe in him.

"I think this is the most important thing, to believe in a coach and go with him every time.

"There wasn't one second when the team wasn't with the coach (in Turkey), so, this is really important.

"First of all, he's a great guy outside basketball so this helps for sure."

After the 2008 Olympics, the USA players talked openly about how the experience had changed them for the better.

The same can be said for this summer with Lithuania.

"I think the confidence (from the World Championship) helps for sure, to arrive in Milan after being with a great team," he said.

"Everybody will come (to the EuroBasket) with more skills, more confidence.

"I'm looking at the performances of everyone now this season that was in the national team and I think we will be a good national team.

"I hope that we will win in our country."

Jeff Taylor